Events
Window on America for Danish Youth
The Embassy
June 20, 2007
On June 20, 2007 Ambassador Cain welcomed the participants in the Embassy's "Window on America" (WOA) program at a reception held in their honor at the Embassy. In Denmark the WOA program is a collaboration between the Embassy and Youth for Understanding (YFU), pursuant to which 14 Danish youth and two YFU escorts are traveling to the U.S. for a three-week study tour. The WOA program for Denmark was developed by the Embassy's Public Affairs Office with YFU-Denmark. All expenses of the tour have been paid for by the U.S. Embassy (with funding from the U.S. Department of State) and the J.C. Petersen and wife Fanny Petersen foundation (administered by the Egmont Foundation).
At the reception on June 20 Ambassador Cain welcomed the WOA participants, their parents, special guests, YFU staff and volunteers, and teachers and school principals who collaborated with YFU to inform potential participants of the program. The 14 participants were selected from 35 applicants who had all logged onto YFU-Denmark's web site to learn about the program and to download application materials. The selected participants all received personal interviews before being selected, and YFU staff and volunteers worked closely with the participants' parents in the selection process.
After welcoming remarks and words of congratulations from Ambassador Cain and Finn Balle Kjeldsen, YFU-Denmark's National Director, the WOA participants, guests, and Embassy staff sat down together to share a buffet of freshly made Halal hamburgers in the Embassy's restaurant.
The WOA team departs for the U.S. on June 30. The participants will each live with an American host family in the Erie, Pennsylvania area for two weeks, and the team will also travel to Washington, D.C. and New York City for cultural programs and visits that will allow them to discover more about Americans and American society and values. YFU USA collaborated with YFU-Denmark to select the American host families and to organize the program in the U.S.
This is the first year the WOA program has occurred in Denmark, and the program is part of the Embassy's ongoing efforts to reach out to Danish youth living in ethnically diverse neighborhoods. More information about the WOA program can be found on YFU-Denmark's web site.
While in the U.S. the participants were interviewed by local TV-station Jet TV. You can see the interviews by clicking this link.